It is one of 17 lakes in the world heritage listed willandra lakes region many important archaeological discoveries have been made at the lake. The movie as a whole was just so amazing, and definitely one of the best horror films of the last twenty years, definitely of the past decade. Grief often has to do with the death of someone close to us. The documentary style feels authentic, and strangely even though the film is interspersed with a lot of footage that breaks the documentary style, i didnt. Pieces of skeletons have been found in this region. They are lake mungo 1 lm1, or mungo lady, lake mungo 2 lm2, and lake mungo 3 lm3, or mungo man. A family mourns the death of its 16yearold daughter, alice. It starts off with alice and her brother matthew swimming at a local dam when she. Lake mungo has only one camping area other than a bush camp some 20 kilometres away on the other side of the lake from the main entrance. It seems a lot of people who watched joel andersons mockumentarystyle horror film lake mungo missed the terrifying truth that subtly underpins its apparent plot. Its understated, expertly crafted, and surprisingly deep. And speaking of story, unlike most of the other first person horror movies, lake mungo actually has a good one.
Start this article has been rated as startclass on the projects quality scale. It employs a mockumentary format using actors in place of interviewees to tell the story of a family trying to come to terms with the drowning death of their daughter and the potentially supernatural. To optimize your experience with your screen reading software, please use our website, which has the same tickets as our fandango. Mar 20, 2010 the twists in the second half of the film, though motivated and logical, were too redolent of twin peaks for me, so much that it detracted from my experience of lake mungo. When teenager alice palmer goes missing and is later found dead it rocks the small australian community of ararat. In december 2005 in the town of ararat, victoria, the palmer family is shattered after the teenage daughter alice goes missing and her body is subsequently recovered having drowned at lake mungo. Few films convey this grieving process better than 2008 psychological horror lake mungo, a modern indie classic that somehow failed to get. Lake mungo is a 2008 australian psychological horror film written and directed by joel anderson and starring talia zucker and martin sharpe. Lake mungo is a mystery, a thriller and a ghost story told in documentary form that illustrates how the dead can forever haunt the living. Lake mungo is lot more realistic than twin peaks and plays with the idea that alice is alive and then, when that is proven wrong, that she is a ghost. Lake mungo was screened in the united kingdom on 17 march at the barbican london australian film festival. Strange things start happening after a girl is found drowned in a lake. In the aftermath, the mother june becomes certain that alices ghost is haunting the house. Sixteenyearold alice palmer drowns while swimming in the local dam.
Lake mungo is a dry lake located in new south wales, australia. In australia, the film was at the travelling film festival wagga wagga on march 2009. The disc lake mungo is a film that achieves much with relatively little, so you perhaps wont be surprised to discover that it arrives from second sight on a single region 2 encoded dvd, with no extras. If someone were to cleverly incorporate this movie onto pbs program schedule, theres a very strong possibility that some. Lake mungo was directed and written by joel anderson. Lake mungo is a dry lake in the southwestern part of new south wales, australia. Profoundly unsettled, the palmers seek the help of psychic and parapsychologist, ray kemeny. Lake mungo really is a very simple film, it follows the palmer family as they deal with the loss of alice their daughtersister. The adult male body had been sprinkled with powdered red ochre at the time of the burial.
For obvious reasons, the film will be hard for most to digest, due in part to the pictures history channel aesthetic. Lake mungo follows the palmer family as they deal with the loss of their daughter alice. Apologies to samson and delilah, mary and max and balibo. The lake mungo iii or lake mungo 3 or willandra lakes hominid 3, wlh3 burial, located 450 meters 1,500 feet from the cremation site, was a fully articulated and intact human skeleton, discovered in 1974. John brawley, the cinematographer of lake mungo, reached out to me on twitter and provided this article he wrote about the making. Low this article has been rated as lowimportance on the projects importance scale. The main camp was surprisingly busy considering it was winter and very cold at night, but being more or less halfway between sydney and adelaide, lake mungo is a convenient stopover spot. Lake mungo simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The sites are located near lake mungo, in new south wales, australia, in the world heritagelisted willandra lakes region. As australias film industry forges ahead with innovative horror flicks such as the loved ones, lake mungo is a sound cornerstone on which to build for the future. Lake mungo is a film that takes an occasionally tired plot device the faux documentary and twists it on its head. Lake mungo remains simple english wikipedia, the free.
Ghostly shenanigans are dryly delivered in the ambitious, restrained and wellmounted oz mockumentary lake mungo. The film chronicles the grief and heartache wrought by the disappearance of alice palmer, a sweet, likable girl next door who vanishes during a holiday with her friends near a mysterious location known as lake mungo. May 29, 2015 it seems a lot of people who watched joel andersons mockumentarystyle horror film lake mungo missed the terrifying truth that subtly underpins its apparent plot. The family then experiences a series of strange and inexplicable events centered. Jan 05, 2019 lake mungo slowly builds an unsettling sense of atmosphere and dread of the unnatural and unknown, along with an unexpected but welcome mystery elements. Lake mungo found footage done right written by angela june 12, 2014 the world was enraptured when the phenomenon of found footagereality television seeped into the mainstream during the early 2000s. As the family attempts to put the pieces of their shattered existence back together, a series of strange events begin to unfold. The lake is the main feature of mungo national park.
Shes not full force but is spread sparsely throughout the film and the film is more effective because of that. Watch lake mungo 2008 full movie free online streaming tubi. Watch lake mungo 2008 full movie free online streaming. Ray discovers that alice led a secret, double life. Lake mungo is a mystery, a thriller and a ghost story. Mar 26, 2010 lake mungo is a film that takes an occasionally tired plot device the faux documentary and twists it on its head. Movies like lake mungo if you like lake mungo you are looking for psychological, tense and suspenseful movies about with supernatural, ghost, investigation, uncover truth, teenage life, mystery and family life themes of drama, horror and mystery genre shot in australia.
If you would like to participate, visit the project page. In lake mungo spoilers, what double life does she have. At one point, death finally takes her while she swam with her family and the whole movie is about her ghost trying to help her family see what she was really like, and it succeeds by showing them a glimpse of her life with the video footage at lake mungo and the tape of her having sex with the tooweys but they never get a full picture of what. In particular, a subplot involving alices sex life that turns mourning into a character assassination after death and couldve been completely discarted without hurting the overall plot. Can you match each of these bond villains with their own evil plot. Why lake mungo is the best ghost film youve never seen. The family have agreed to be filmed for a documentary due to the strange occurrences that took place about a month after alices passing. Sixteenyearold alice palmer drowns while swimming in. The lake is the central feature of mungo national park, and is one of seventeen lakes in the world heritage listed willandra lakes region. Enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing lake mungo near you. Another lake mungo thread questions, comments, spoilers. The australian documentarystyle movie tells the story of the palmer family and the unexpected death of their 16yearold daughter, alice. Lake mungo is an interesting australian entry in the found footage genre. Also sign me up for fanmail to get updates on all things movies.
Upon discovering her secret double life, a series of clues lead them to lake mungo. The acting in lake mungo is of a quality one doesnt often see in a horror movie. For all of that, just as the film itself makes the most of its modest materials, so does this barebones release. Lake mungo is a film directed by joel anderson with talia zucker, rosie traynor, david pledger, martin sharpe, year. This usually overlooked nation is fast proving to hold an abundance of talent and flair on both sides of the camera.
Lake mungo film is within the scope of wikiproject australia, which aims to improve wikipedia s coverage of australia and australiarelated topics. Lake mungo 2008 is joel andersons debut film, which is surprising because it is a wellcrafted horror gem. Jul 29, 2019 the lake mungo iii or lake mungo 3 or willandra lakes hominid 3, wlh3 burial, located 450 meters 1,500 feet from the cremation site, was a fully articulated and intact human skeleton, discovered in 1974. Lake mungo hangs itself on these emotions, dwelling in sorrow and the shadow of a lingering sinister presence. While the month of october brings chilling horror movies and jump scares, lake mungo brings psychological horrors to life. The twists in the second half of the film, though motivated and logical, were too redolent of twin peaks for me, so much that it detracted from my experience of lake mungo. Sixteenyearold alice palmer drowns while swimming with her family at a dam in ararat, australia. The lake mungo remains are three sets of human fossils.
It was made just after oren peli had made the very similar paranormal activity 2007, although was released before paranormal activity became a massive hit in theatrical release in 2009 it is interesting to see a treatment of like material made before the found footage cliches set in as a result of. Not only is the dead girl alice palmer laura palmer being the deceased subject of twin peaks but she was a young woman with a double life which was only revealed after her. If you only like horror with jumpscares and shocks then this probably isnt one for you, but if you like understated, subtly creepy ideas and images then lake mungo will be right up your street. If you only like horror with jumpscares and shocks then this probably isnt one for you, but if you like understated, subtly creepy ideas. The actors are required to portray ordinary people going through the extraordinary pain of losing a child. Lake mungo looks like one of those tv episodes about reallife ghost stories, only slightly betteracted, with better production and an overcomplicated.
Whats the story the story of a teenager whose apparent death sets off a series of paranormal events. A series of clues lead the family to lake mungo where alices secret past emerges. Review by nathaxnne supermessed up 2 more than any other film i have seen on these matters, lake mungo understands and problematizes the phenomena of haunting as phenomena of documentation. Lake mungo slowly builds an unsettling sense of atmosphere and dread of the unnatural and unknown, along with an unexpected but welcome mystery elements. Most horror fans arent going to enjoy writerdirector joel andersons creepy 2008 pseudodocumentary lake mungo. Many important archaeological findings have been made at the lake, most significantly the discovery of the. A convincing mockdocumentary style lifts lake mungo beyond spooky supernatural mystery into the realms of emotional truthtelling. With rosie traynor, david pledger, martin sharpe, talia zucker.
The main crux of the film is the family coming to terms with her death, learning the truth about her life, and moving on. The excellent acting and the totally believable mix of media and the perfectlypaced reveals dont lead so much to a frightening climax as a gobsmacking encounter with the void. Lake mungo 2007 the encyclopedia of fantastic film and. When her body is recovered and a verdict of accidental death returned, her grieving family buries her. When the family says alices ghost has moved on, they were actually wrong.
It employs a mockumentary format using actors in place of interviewees to tell the story of a family trying to come to terms with the drowning death of their daughter and the potentially supernatural events they experience after her death. A movie that was part of the failed and, on my part at least, much missed, after dark horrorfest, lake mungo was a pleasant surprise, one that stuck with me well after the cameras. I watched lake mungo for the 2nd time this week last night, and came away with the feeling cemented that i really love this movie. The family experiences a series of strange, inexplicable events centered in and around. Lake mungo is an exceptionally wellacted and cleverly made horror film with a quietly unsettling undercurrent to it. The film was screened in austin, texas usa at the south by southwest film festival in march 2009. Everything you need to know about lake mungo movie. It is nearly impossible to watch lake mungo and not believe you are watching a real documentary.
When her body is recovered and, her grieving family buries her. Jun 07, 20 when i started lake mungo, i wasnt expecting to find anything that was able to quench my thirst for horror, and maybe thats why i ended up enjoying it so much. A 65minute slow burn to one impactful scare, pic brims with ideas along the way. There are two or three moments in the movie that couldve been built up and expressed more but they were dropped to the sidelines once mentioned. It is filmed in a documentary style, in which the familyfriendswork associates are interviewed by an unseen person, with pictures and video footage shown as well. An australian horror film directed by joel anderson. It is about 760 km due west of sydney and 90 km northeast of mildura. Lake mungo is a mystery, a thriller and a ghost story told in documentary form that. Horror films deal with death, torment and pain but rarely explicitly with grief. Frightened by what appears to be otherworldly activity, her family discovers secrets about their daughter as well as what lurks beneath lake mungo. This movie was amazing, and robert eggers is definitely a guy who works hard at his craft. The movie has a similar premise with paranormal activity 2007, and it also makes effective use of the mockumentary method if not better.